As encouraging as Saturday’s 50-7 shellacking of visiting UConn at SECU Stadium was, Maryland football’s opportunity to get valuable reps for an inexperienced offense might have been nearly as important.
After building a 23-0 advantage at halftime that extended to 30-0 less than five minutes into the third quarter, the Terps (1-0) were able to liberally rotate reserves throughout their offensive and defensive alignments.
Courtesy of 83 snaps on offense, Maryland employed seven offensive linemen, six wide receivers, four running backs, three quarterbacks and two tight ends outside of the starting 11 players. With 63 snaps, the defense utilized nine defensive backs and linebackers and five defensive linemen aside from the starters.
“We got to play a lot of players, and to me, that was much needed for our team, especially in games like this when you look at the lack of experience on offense,” coach Mike Locksley said. “To be able to get [83] plays, I think we played somewhere [close] to 72 different players in this game. To me, that will come back to pay great dividends for us as we move through the season.”
Here are three other observations from the Terps’ victory.
Billy Edwards Jr. made Mike Locksley look like a genius
Any preseason concerns about the quarterback position were temporarily dispelled after the redshirt junior completed 20 of 27 passes for 311 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 39 yards on five carries.
Edwards’ start appeared to get off on the wrong foot when officials initially ruled that he fumbled the ball at the end of a 14-yard scamper to UConn’s 18-yard line. But after a review concluded that his elbow was on the turf before the ball was jostled from his grasp, Edwards promptly tossed an 18-yard touchdown strike to senior wide receiver Tai Felton to stake Maryland to a 7-0 lead less than four minutes into the game.
Aside from a few deep throws, Edwards seemed content to look for short and intermediate gains in the passing game. That was fine with Locksley, who cited that recognition for choosing Edwards over redshirt sophom*ores MJ Morris and Cameron Edge in the preseason competition.
“If you just look at the comfort level that he showed operating the system with all the stuff going on around him and the way he was able to distribute the ball, that’s the reason,” he said. “I thought Billy did a really good job of controlling the offensive system — over 300 yards. To me, he did a great job of distributing the ball, getting it to the playmakers.”
Edwards shared credit with his teammates for finding gaps in the Huskies defense.
“They were playing deep and didn’t want to give up the ball over their head, but we were able to take advantage of some of the stuff they left underneath,” he said. “And like you saw from that long one by Tai, throw a [4]-yard ball, and he’ll take it [75]. So hats off to the skill around me. We’ve got a good group. So just trying to get the ball in their hands and let them make plays.”
The quarterbacks might be diving more than sliding
Locksley acknowledged that the coaches will review how their quarterbacks should end runs after both Edwards and Morris absorbed frightening hits in Saturday’s game.
Late in the second quarter, Edwards slid after a 6-yard scamper and was decked by redshirt senior safety Jordan Wright. Early in the fourth, Morris ran for 8 yards and slid before getting blasted by senior safety Rante Jones.
Both Wright and Jones were ejected for targeting, but the 6-foot-1, 209-pound Morris did not return to the game, opening the door for Edge to take over at quarterback. Still, no one associated with the Terps wants to see Edwards, Morris or Edge be that vulnerable, especially Locksley.
“We’ve worked drills where we dive forward because you’re better protecting yourself going forward than you are sideways,” he said. “We’ve got to find ways to continue to teach our quarterbacks not to take those extra shots, but some of the shots they took today, there’s no way around them. There were penalties, and we’ve got to protect our guys a little bit better, but I also think there are some times we shouldn’t slide and maybe going down face-first and diving more than sliding when you’re able to do that would probably be the better thing.”
At 6-3 and 222 pounds, Edwards is no shrinking violet and would prefer to dive forward to gain an extra yard or two. But he also knows there’s a delicate line between being advantageous and being smart.
“I think I’m more of a downhill, aggressive runner, but that will be one I’ve got to learn,” he said. “Just the nature of my position now, I’m hoping to play in 12, 13, 14, 15 games, and I’m not a backup coming in. So I’ve got to do a better job protecting myself. That one stung a little bit, but the biggest thing Coach Locks always talks about is, it’s not a bad thing if we can learn from it. So there’s no doubt in my mind I’ve learned from that one, and I will go about it differently when it comes to sliding.”
A retooled secondary showed promise — and pitfalls
Although the defense returned seven starters, only one — senior safety Dante Trader Jr. — played in the secondary. Cornerbacks Jalen Huskey, a junior transfer from Bowling Green, and Perry Fisher, a redshirt sophom*ore, and safety Glendon Miller, a redshirt senior, have plenty of experience, but Saturday’s game marked their starting debuts at Maryland.
The defensive backfield had its ups and downs. Miller, redshirt sophom*ore safety Lavain Scruggs (Archbishop Spalding) and Trader (McDonogh) ranked 1-2-3, respectively, in tackles, and Miller registered the unit’s first interception of the season late in the second quarter.
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The secondary was also exposed on a 27-yard touchdown connection between UConn graduate student quarterback Joe fa*gnano and redshirt senior wide receiver TJ Sheffield in the third quarter. And the Huskies had chances for significant gains through the air if not for several critical drops by their receivers.
Locksley chalked up the touchdown to “a communication error that we’ve got to get fixed.” He also praised the defensive backs’ play.
“Dante has done a good job of settling things down,” he said. “We’ve got young corners, inexperienced corners. So to have that veteran experience on the back end and then when we put Glendon down as a nickel, that allows us to bring Scruggs in, and Scruggs had a pretty good game from what I’ve seen.”
Fifth-year senior middle linebacker Ruben Hyppolite II expressed his confidence in the secondary.
“They’re already a cohesive group, but they become more and more cohesive as the game goes on and they make more and more plays,” he said. “So it’s just great seeing them gel and bond and seeing them continue to make plays and do great things in the game.”
Big Ten opener
Michigan State at Maryland
Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
TV: BTN
Radio: 105.7 FM
